Sawhorse leg cutting jig



7 Jan. 15, 1957 J. w. POTTS SAWHORSE LEG CUTTING JIG Filed July 9, 1954 INVENTOR United States Patent SAWHORSE LEG CUTTING JlG John W. Potts, Carrollton, Ohio Application July 9, 1954, Serial No. 442,385 6 Claims. or. 145-129 This invention relates to a novel jig of extremely simple construction through the use of which the four legs to be used in forming the legs of a sawhorse may be quickly and accurately cut for assembly with a top bar of the sawhorse so that the legs will be disposed in uniform downwardly diverging relationship when assembled flush on a flat supporting surface to produce a sawhorse .7

possessing a maximum of stability.

Various other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure l is a side elevational view, looking toward one side of the jig, showing a length of 2 x 4 lumber applied to said side;

Figure 2 is an end elevational view of the jig, looking from right to left of Figure 1 and showing two pieces of 2 x 4 lumber applied to opposite sides of the jig;

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the jig, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line 33 of Figure l and showing the pieces of 2 x 4 in position therein, and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the jig.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the sawhorse leg cutting jig in its entirety and comprising the invention is designated generally 6 and is composed of two sections, designated generally 7 and 8.

The sections 7 and 8 are each formed from a single piece of relatively heavy gauge material, such as sheet metal. Each section 7 and 8 includes a substantially flat wall 9 constituting a parallelogram having parallel top and bottom edges 10 and 11, respectively, and parallel side edges 12 and 13. Each section 7 and 8 includes a pair of flanges 14 and 15 which extend outwardly from the edges 12 and 13. The flanges 14 and 15 of each of said sections are disposed parallel to one another and in planes at right angles to the plane of the wall 9 of said section. The walls 9 of the sections 7 and 8 are secured together in back to back relationship in any suitable manner, as by means of spot welding, as seen at 16, so that the top and bottom edges 10 and 11, respectively, of the walls 9 will be disposed coplanar and so that the flanges 14 will be disposed coplanar with one another and likewise the flanges 15.

The flanges 14 and 15 have top edges 17 which are disposed coplanar with the top edges 10 and outer edges 18 which are disposed parallel to the planes of the walls 9. The walls 9 are of a width between their side edges 12 and 13 and the adjacent faces of their flanges 14 and 2,777,487 Patented Jan. 15, 1957 ice 15 of four inches to accommodate a piece of 2 x 4 inch lumber 19 in each section 7 and 8 and so that one wide side of the lumber will bear against the wall 9 and the narrow edges of the lumber 19 will be disposed between and against adjacent faces of the flanges 14 and 15. The flanges 14 and 15 are two inches in width so that the other wide side of the lumber 19 will be disposed substantially coplanar with the outer edges 18 of the flanges, as illustrated in broken lines in Figures 1, 2 and 3.

Each flange 14 and 15 of each section 7 and 8 is pro vided with a notch, designated generally 20, including an edge 21 which extends generally longitudinally of said flange downwardly from its upper edge 17 and which edge 21 is inclined downwardly and outwardly relative to the plane of the wall 9 of said section. Each notch 20 also includes a bottom edge 22 which slopes downwardly and inwardly from the outer edge 18 and which merges at its inner end with the lower end of the edge 21. The notch edges 21 and 22 form a right angle. The length of each notch edge 21 is at least equal to the width of the flange as measured between its outer edge 18 and the wall 9 of the section of which said flange forms a part. The flanges 14 and 15 have substantially straight bottom edges 23 which are inclined downwardly and in wardly toward the bottom edges 11 of the walls 9 and which bottom edges 23 are disposed parallel to the notch edges 22.

The two pieces of lumber 19 are positioned in the jig sections 7 and 8, as previously described, and are disposed so that ends of the lumber pieces 19 are disposed substantially flush with the upper edges 17 of the flanges 14, as illustrated in Figure 1. The ends of the lumber, located above the jig 6 are then cut ofi along the upper edges 10. Without changing the position of the pieces 19 in the jig 6, each piece is then cut downwardly along the notch edges 21 of the flanges 14 and 15 of the jig section in which said piece is disposed and is then cut inwardly along the notch edges 22, to form a notch in each piece 19 extending between its narrow two inch edges and from end-to-end of one wide four inch side, and which notch is of a cross sectional shape corresponding to the shape of the notch 20. The jig 6 is then slid downwardly relatively to the lumber pieces 19 until the bottom edges 23 of the flanges are disposed a desired distance from the upper notch ends of the pieces 19, corresponding to the desired length of the sawhorse legs and at equal distances from said upper notch ends. The two pieces 19 are then out 011 along the bottom edges 23 of the flanges 14 and 15 of the jig sections 7 and 8 in which said pieces 19 are disposed.

It will be readily apparent that a pair of legs thus formed from the two pieces of lumber 19 may be used to provide a pair of legs for one end of a sawhorse and a second pair of legs will be similarly cut using the jig 6 as previously described, to provide legs for the other end of the sawhorse. The wide sides of the notches cut in the legs of each pair of legs are disposed against opposite sides of the bar forming the top of the sawhorse and the narrower sides of said notches are disposed to abut against the bottom of the top bar of the sawhorse. The legs are then secured while thus positioned to the top bar of the sawhorse and the lower ends of the legs will then be disposed in the same plane and in a plane parallel to the bottom edges of said notches and to the underside of the top bar of the sawhorse, against which said bottom edges of the notches abut.

While the jig 6 has been described as being of a size to handle a piece of lumber of two inches by four inches in cross section, it will be readily apparent that the size of the jig could be changed to accommodate lumber pieces of other cross sectional dimensions.

ing from the spirit or scope of the invention as hereinafter defined by the appended, claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A sawhorse leg cutting, jig comprising a. substan tially flat wall forming a parallelogram having straight top and bottom edges disposed parallel to one another and straight parallel side edges disposed at inclines rela-' tive to the top and bottom edges, flanges projecting out.- wardly in the same direction from said side edges and disposed in planes at substantially a right angle to the plane of said wall and parallel, to one another, each'of said flanges having a notch, formed in the upper outer corner thereof including, an edge extending downwardly from the upper edge of said flange and disposed in outwardly diverging relation relative to said wall from the upper to the lower end thereof, and each notch including a bottom edge extending downwardly and inwardly from the outer edge of the flange and merging at its inner end with the lower end of said first mentioned notch edge.

2. A sawhorse leg cutting jig as in claim 1, said flanges having straight bottom edges inclined downwardly and inwardly and merging at their inner ends with the bottom edge of said wall, said bottom edge of each flange being disposed parallel to the bottom edge of the notch of said flange.

3. A sawhorse leg cutting jig as in claim 1,. said edges of the notch forming a right angle and said first mentioned notch edge being substantially longer than the last mentioned bottom edge of the notch.

,4. A sawhorse. leg cutting jig as in claim 1, the outer edge of each of said flanges being disposed substantially parallel to the plane of said wall and extending downwardly from the outer end of the bottom edge of the notch of said flange, the width of each of said flanges, as measured between the outer edge thereof and said wall, being equal to one half the width of said wall as measured between the side edges thereof.

5. A sawhorse leg cutting jig as in claim 4, and the length of the first mentioned edge of each notch being equal to the width ofthe flange beneath said notch.

6. A sawhorse leg cutting jig as in claim 1, said flanges having top edges, extending between the notches thereof and said wall, disposed in the same plane as the top edge of said wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 109,915 Linscott Dec. 6, 1870 731,919 Larson June 23, 1903 1,953,012 Gerrard Mar. 27, 1934 2,127,899 Westwang Aug. 23, 1938 2,509,441 MacAllan May 30, 1950 2,570,950 Hornik Oct. 9, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 20,236 Great Britain Sept. 21, 1903 251,073 Switzerland July 1, 1948 

